Strengthening westerly winds aloft produced on and off again high wind reports at Angel Fire Airport through the early morning of January 10, 2023.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS ABQ wrote it up.
Strengthening westerly winds aloft produced on and off again high wind reports at Angel Fire Airport through the early morning of January 10, 2023.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Albuquerque, NM wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 10, 2:41 AM MST, 14 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Albuquerque NM 241 AM MST Tue Jan 10 2023 ...New SYNOPSIS, SHORT TERM, LONG TERM, FIRE WEATHER... .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 230 AM MST Tue Jan 10 2023 Tuesday will be warm with high clouds and breezy to windy conditions in the Sangre de Cristo mountains and eastern plains. Strong winds are expected from the central mountains eastward Wednesday afternoon, with gusts up to 65 mph possible on the eastern plains. A few inches of snow are likely in the northern mountains with light rain and snow possible in the surrounding lower elevations. Mostly clear skies with above average temperatures will prevail Thursday and Friday. Precipitation chances begin to increase next Sunday. && .SHORT TERM... (Today through Wednesday) Issued at 230 AM MST Tue Jan 10 2023 Increasing westerly flow is forecast today, with strong mountaintop winds mixing down to the surface across eastern NM. The Wind Advisory for the Sangre De Cristos is still on track and will also include the central/northeast highlands east to Quay County beginning at 10AM. Warming is forecast today, despite increasing mid/high cloudiness, with downslope winds helping temperatures rise 10-20 degrees above normal across the eastern plains and highlands. Westerly flow aloft will continue to increase overnight, keeping the lower boundary layer at least partially mixed and with abundant cloud cover will make for well above normal low temperatures. The jet stream will move directly over NM on Wednesday as a shortwave trough moves along the CO/NM border, pushing a Pacific cold front across the state. Lee side cyclogenesis is forecast Wednesday afternoon over southeast CO, bringing a strengthening of the surface pressure gradient and strong to potentially damaging winds to much of eastern and central NM. Will keep the High Wind Watch as-is for now. Strong winds across eastern NM on Wednesday will likely result in patches of blowing dust with localized reduced visibility. In addition, the shortwave trough will bring sufficient forcing for a round of snow showers to northwest and north central NM late Tuesday night through Wednesday mid day. The Tusas Mountains will once again be the big winner, with around 6" likely across the peaks and higher west-facing slopes. A Winter Weather Advisory may be required for the Tusas, including Chama. Cold air advection behind the Pacific front will bring cooler temperatures on Wednesday, but highs are still forecast to be 5-10 degrees above normal across the eastern plains due in part to strong downslope winds. && .LONG TERM... (Wednesday night through Monday) Issued at 230 AM MST Tue Jan 10 2023 On Wednesday night, the storm system will race off to the east as ridging quickly builds in behind it over the Intermountain West. Strong winds on the eastern plains will likely diminish into a breeze after sunset as 700 mb winds rapidly decrease and the boundary later decouples from the mid-levels. However, some guidance does have strong northwesterly winds behind the cold front holding on into the overnight hours before tapering off early Thursday morning. While the airmass behind the storm system will be colder than the current one, temperatures will only cool to around seasonal averages on Thursday afternoon. The tranquil weather will continue into Friday as temperatures warm to 5-15 degrees above average. Mid and upper level Pacific moisture begins to push into western New Mexico on Saturday, resulting in an uptick of high cloud cover in the western and central portions of the state. While there is good agreement that troughing will eventually push into the desert southwest early next week, cluster analysis shows disagreement on the depth of the trough as well as quickly it pushes into New Mexico. Regardless, unsettled weather with mountain snow, low elevation rain, and increased winds are expected early next week. && .AVIATION... (06Z TAFS) Issued at 1015 PM MST Mon Jan 9 2023 Sct-bkn high clouds. A period of sct-bkn mid clouds before 10/12Z over nw and north central NM where brief isold light showers are possible. Winds at mt top levels increase over the Sangre de Cristo mts aft 10/06Z where LLWS is possible in the vicinity, including KLVS. Wly sfc winds increase over portions of ne and east central NM aft 10/17Z where gusts to around 40kt possible. Potential for LLWS becomes more widespread over wrn as well as ne NM aft 11/01Z as a storm system approaches the Four Corners. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 230 AM MST Tue Jan 10 2023 Stronger downslope winds will result in well above normal temperatures across the eastern plains today. Critical fire weather conditions are forecast across the east central plains this afternoon and a Red Flag Warning will be issued shortly. Even stronger winds will hit the area Wednesday as a potent trough races east along the CO/NM border. A Fire Weather Watch will be issued shortly for Wednesday for the central highlands, northeast plains and east central plains. Although fire weather climatology does not favor large fire growth in early January and forecast humidity is barely touching critical threshold, the Red Flag Threat index is showing sufficient coverage of critical conditions to justify the issuance of these products. Colder conditions will follow behind a Pacific cold front Wednesday night, then ridging will bring a warming trend from Thursday through Saturday with daytime temperatures rising back above normal areawide on Friday. Vent rates will take a dip and be mostly poor from Thursday through Saturday. Winds will be back on the uptrend late in the weekend and into early next week as the jet stream dips back to the south and brings two troughs, with the first one hitting on Sunday. The Sunday trough will bring chances for wetting precipitation to western NM, with accumulating snow to the mountains. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Farmington...................... 50 30 42 19 / 10 60 20 0 Dulce........................... 45 25 36 10 / 20 70 60 0 Cuba............................ 48 27 37 16 / 5 40 30 0 Gallup.......................... 53 28 41 17 / 0 50 20 0 El Morro........................ 51 28 38 18 / 0 40 20 0 Grants.......................... 56 29 42 12 / 0 30 10 0 Quemado......................... 55 30 43 15 / 0 20 10 0 Magdalena....................... 57 34 47 24 / 0 0 5 0 Datil........................... 53 30 43 18 / 0 10 5 0 Reserve......................... 57 31 50 21 / 0 10 5 0 Glenwood........................ 61 37 52 29 / 0 10 5 0 Chama........................... 40 21 31 6 / 20 80 80 0 Los Alamos...................... 49 30 39 22 / 0 30 30 0 Pecos........................... 51 29 41 20 / 0 10 20 0 Cerro/Questa.................... 45 27 35 15 / 0 50 50 0 Red River....................... 40 20 29 10 / 0 50 50 0 Angel Fire...................... 42 23 31 1 / 0 40 40 0 Taos............................ 48 26 38 10 / 0 30 40 0 Mora............................ 51 30 38 18 / 0 10 20 0 Espanola........................ 54 30 45 17 / 0 20 20 0 Santa Fe........................ 50 29 41 22 / 0 10 20 0 Santa Fe Airport................ 52 29 44 19 / 0 10 20 0 Albuquerque Foothills........... 55 35 47 29 / 0 10 10 0 Albuquerque Heights............. 57 34 49 26 / 0 10 10 0 Albuquerque Valley.............. 58 32 52 24 / 0 10 5 0 Albuquerque West Mesa........... 56 32 49 25 / 0 10 10 0 Belen........................... 60 31 53 21 / 0 10 5 0 Bernalillo...................... 57 32 49 24 / 0 10 10 0 Bosque Farms.................... 59 31 52 20 / 0 10 5 0 Corrales........................ 57 32 49 24 / 0 10 10 0 Los Lunas....................... 59 31 53 20 / 0 10 5 0 Placitas........................ 54 33 45 25 / 0 10 20 0 Rio Rancho...................... 56 32 48 25 / 0 10 10 0 Socorro......................... 62 34 55 26 / 0 0 5 0 Sandia Park/Cedar Crest......... 50 32 41 24 / 0 10 10 0 Tijeras......................... 52 33 44 25 / 0 10 10 0 Edgewood........................ 53 32 44 22 / 0 10 10 0 Moriarty/Estancia............... 56 30 46 18 / 0 10 10 0 Clines Corners.................. 54 32 44 19 / 0 0 10 0 Mountainair..................... 55 34 46 23 / 0 0 5 0 Gran Quivira.................... 55 33 47 23 / 0 0 5 0 Carrizozo....................... 60 39 52 28 / 0 0 0 0 Ruidoso......................... 58 39 49 23 / 0 0 5 0 Capulin......................... 60 30 47 17 / 0 0 10 0 Raton........................... 62 28 49 15 / 0 0 10 0 Springer........................ 63 27 50 15 / 0 0 5 0 Las Vegas....................... 60 33 46 18 / 0 0 10 0 Clayton......................... 68 37 54 24 / 0 0 10 0 Roy............................. 63 35 51 21 / 0 0 5 0 Conchas......................... 69 38 57 23 / 0 0 5 0 Santa Rosa...................... 67 37 56 24 / 0 0 5 0 Tucumcari....................... 72 39 61 23 / 0 0 0 0 Clovis.......................... 71 39 61 26 / 0 0 0 0 Portales........................ 72 39 62 27 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Sumner..................... 71 38 61 26 / 0 0 0 0 Roswell......................... 75 40 68 32 / 0 0 0 0 Picacho......................... 68 43 60 29 / 0 0 0 0 Elk............................. 66 43 58 26 / 0 0 0 0 && .ABQ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory from 10 AM this morning to 5 PM MST this afternoon for NMZ223-229-232>234. Fire Weather Watch from Wednesday morning through Wednesday afternoon for NMZ104-125-126. High Wind Watch from Wednesday morning through Wednesday afternoon for NMZ212>215-221-223-226-228-229-231>237-239-240. Wind Advisory until 5 PM MST this afternoon for NMZ213>215. Red Flag Warning from noon today to 5 PM MST this afternoon for NMZ126. && SHORT TERM...11 LONG TERM....16 AVIATION...99
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Angel Fire Airport reported a high sustained wind speed of 43 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, January 2023
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1064186.